Ingway
Prince Ingway '(イングヴェイ ''Inguvuei), also known in Japan as '''Yngwie, is Velvet's older twin brother. While not a playable character, he is still considered an important protagonist who appears during The Pooka Prince, Fairy Land, Fate, and The Book of Armageddon. Character Overview Ingway is one of two illegitimate children born as the result of Odin's affair with Princess Ariel, the other being his younger twin sister Velvet. By default, this makes him the grandson of King Valentine, as well as Gwendolyn and Griselda's older half-brother. After the destruction of his kingdom, he came to reside in Elrit Forest with his sister, eventually becoming allies with the Wise Men of Titania (though this alliance would later end in a betrayal). His ongoing plot throughout Odin Sphere has him seeking revenge against his father, which unfortunately leads him to the fate of becoming one of the five disasters that brings about Armageddon. Appearance Like Velvet, Ingway's clothing has Arabian influences and he shares a number of physical features with her, although he's noticeably a bit more tanned than she is. His gold hair is short and messy and he also has violet eyes and a lean yet muscular build. He wears a dark violet turban with a pale feather that matches with his thick-collared mantle, under which he wears no shirt. The wraps on his wrists, waist, and knees are violet in color and he wears baggy white pants that reach his knees with black tights/socks and yellow shoes that resemble ballet flats. His mantle appears to be pinned by a chain with diamond-shaped ornaments on it and he has a jeweled dagger in gold and blue sheathe. (His character artwork suggests it's supposed to be on his right hip, although it constantly shifts during cutscenes due to Vanillaware's habit of flipping sprites when characters face different directions to save time.) As a frog, Ingway is mainly green in coloration with a yellow underbelly and feet. Unlike other frogs in the game, he has blue markings on his sides and is comparatively duller in coloration. Personality Compared to his sister, Ingway is incredibly pessimistic about his life and firmly believes that he and Velvet are destined to suffer. This is in part due to his rough childhood and the tremendous guilt he feels for many of the atrocious acts he commits throughout the story. He often speaks to others rather bitterly and appears to harbor a very deep self-hatred of himself. He's also rather infamous for his ability to manipulate and trick others, such as when he uses his ability to shapeshift in an attempt to get information out of King Edmund or when he causes Cornelius a great deal of agony over Velvet during their encounter in Elrit Forest. Ingway, however, is shown to be rather selfless when it comes to those he cares about, such as wanting Velvet to be able to live peacefully or the gentleness he shows Mercedes in their interactions. This selflessness, however, is somewhat misguided at times, as his attempt to destroy the Cauldron using the spell of Darkova resulted in him unleashing two of the Armageddon's disasters at once. He lacks a sense of self-preservation and frequently shows the traits of a death seeker, seeing it as the only way to repent for the sins he's committed. Outside these traits, Ingway is also shown to provide a good deal of snark and sarcasm whenever the situation warrants it. During his time as a frog, he appears to be a little more laid-back and relaxed, albeit very stubborn when it came to making sure Mercedes kept her promise to kiss him. History (Pre-Game) Ingway was born alongside Velvet to his mother, Princess Ariel, as a result of her affair with King Odin. After he found out about his and Velvet's birth, King Valentine locked his daughter and grandchildren away in the royal villa. Ingway and Velvet were able to grow up in peace for a while, but King Valentine found out who had fathered the two and brought Ariel to his court, with the twins arriving shortly afterwards. Scared that he could be executed, Ingway declared with Velvet that he did not love his mother and was witness to King Valentine strangling Ariel to death. He and Velvet then discovered a memo that Ariel had written to them, which stated that they were to die of an inevitable curse. Although Ingway was also victim to his grandfather's abuses, he would often escape punishment by using Velvet as his scapegoat and hid whenever she was whipped. Ingway felt tremendously guilty of this, though, and the weight of his sins only became worse on the fateful day he found out about Ragnanival's plan to attack Valentine. Realizing that his father didn't stand a chance against his grandfather's forces while also believing Odin had some amount of affection for him, Ingway made the Cauldron run amok in order to save him. Hiding in the safety of the Cauldron's shadow, Ingway could only watch as, to his utter horror, the entire country was destroyed and every one of its citizens became afflicted with the Pooka's Curse. When the dust had settled down, Ingway was approached by Odin, who callously dismissed him with the words "Well done, traitor," and took the Cauldron for himself. Ingway, completely dejected, soon found a rage building within him and vowed to get revenge for Valentine and repay for the destruction that he caused. To Ingway's relief, he discovered that Velvet was alive and had escaped the curse thanks to her Psypher. The two came to reside in the Abandoned Castle within Elrit Forest, eventually meeting and becoming acquainted with the Three Wise Men. Although he never showed himself during their meetings, Ingway watched Velvet as she began her romantic relationship with Cornelius and became very jealous. At some point during this, he journeyed to Ringford and presented Queen Elfaria with the Ring of Titrel for safekeeping. Story Coming soon! Relationships [[Velvet|'Velvet']] As Velvet's older twin brother, Ingway displays rather protective tendencies towards her, such as expressing the want for her to live out her days in peace or admitting regret over not being able to stop their grandfather from abusing her in their childhood. Despite this, he is known to occasionally lie and be harsh with her, although this is in part because they share a cursed destiny and he doesn't want her to suffer. He also expresses immense jealousy when he sees her with or hears her talk about Cornelius, telling her that he's an oaf and that she should give him up. During his confrontation with Cornelius in Elrit Forest, he even refers to her as his "darling sister" and questions why he'd give her over to him (which has resulted in some suggesting that he has a sister complex.) Although he cares for her, he'd rather she keep her nose out of his issues due to some of the dark business he's involved in, with that attitude reaching its climax during Velvet's epilogue when he attempts to kill their father with the mystic power of Darkova. In the end, he does hold a great deal of faith in her as, in the True Ending after Cornelius's battle against him, he urges Velvet to leave him behind and entrusts her with the fate of the world before she leaves to stop the Cauldron. During the False Ending if Velvet is pitted against the Darkova, Ingway is commanded to attack her by Beldor and begs for her to kill him. Following the battle, a delerious Ingway remarks that he mistook her for their mother and asks her to let him rest before he dies, with Velvet collapsing and dying on top of his body shortly afterwards. Cornelius Princess Ariel Before she was strangled to death, Ingway loved his mother dearly. Unfortunately, when his family was brought before his grandfather, Ingway became scared and declared that he didn't love Ariel to save himself, which left him feeling like he had abandoned her selfishly. For most of his life afterwards, he went on believing that his mother had cursed him out of hatred for not saving her and firmly believed that the prophecy written her memo was to come true for him and Velvet. That was not the case, however, as the second half of Ariel's memo revealed that she loved her son and had forgiven him for his inevitable hatred of her, with the first half of the memo simply informing him of his fate. By the time Ingway reads the second half, however, he was already too far gone down the path towards his destiny as the Beast of Darkova and cries over the words left to him. During the Armageddon when Ingway was speaking to Velvet, he jokingly remarked to her that Ariel was surely waiting for him in the afterlife so that she could punish him for being so bad. King Odin Mercedes * Main Article: Ingway and Mercedes Initially when Ingway met Mercedes, he didn't seem to think of her as much more than a means to return him to his human form. His jumping into her resulted in her dropping her bow in the swamp (which was likely done on purpose) and he only agrees to retrieve it once she agrees to grant him a wish. He did, however, give her the advice and encouragement needed to lead her troops against Melvin and even assisted in his defeat by turning Melvin's soldiers into frogs. He expresses absolute disbelief when Mercedes refuses to kiss him to break his curse and, as a result, they often bickered during their time together over it. The more he spent time with her due to her reluctance, though, the more Ingway came to care about Mercedes. When Wagner threatens Ringford over the death of his friend Hindel, Ingway follows Mercedes up Horn Mountain to make sure she's safe, which almost results in him freezing and going into hibernation in the process. He expressed worry over Mercedes wanting to go to Titania to speak with Beldor and even tells her when they're being led through the streets that they should go back unless they want something bad to happen. His protectiveness of her ultimately results in him casting the Pooka's Curse on Beldor to prevent him from catching her off-guard with a sneak attack, which drains him of his energy and nearly kills him. He was ready to die when this happened, but Mercedes finally kept her promise and kissed him, saving his life and transforming him back into his human form. Ingway expresses gratitude over this, but is quick to reveal that he needs to leave, as he still has duties to attend to. Before leaving, he did tell her his name and made the promise to meet her again. Unfortunately, the promise wasn't kept. In the True Ending of the Book of Armageddon, Ingway was mortally wounded by Cornelius as a result of their fight and dies shortly after the Pooka is taken away by Velvet. In his final moments, he thinks fondly of Mercedes and expresses the desire to see her again. In the new endcard found in Leifthrasir, he is shown resting in the Netherworld near the roots of the World Tree, indicating he's found comfort in being with Mercedes in death. In the False End, Ingway is forced to attack Mercedes under orders from Beldor, which results in the two wounding each other and putting them on death's doorstep. Despite his injuries, Ingway is able to get up and stab Beldor when he witnesses him attempting to strangle the location of Titrel out of Mercedes and painfully drags himself over to her. Holding her in his arms, Ingway shows regret over what he's done and almost leaves to get help, only to be stopped by Mercedes, who tells him of her accomplishments proudly. Mercedes then dies in his arms after confessing her feelings of love to him, which causes Ingway to break down in utter agony and scream for the heavens to kill him, as he only then realized that he loved her. King Valentine The Three Wise Men Ingway was initially trusting of the Wise Men when they met following the destruction of Valentine, as they shared a similar hatred of King Odin. Together, they plotted his downfall with plans to use the mystic power of Darkova obtained from Edmund. The Wise Men, however, lied about the power, took from Ingway the Ring of Titrel (which was actually a fake), and Urzur attempted to personally kill him by turning him into a weak frog. Ingway, however, returned to Titania with Mercedes and assisted her in defeating Beldor by turning him into a Pooka. After Mercedes returned him to his human form and he bid her farewell, he then saved Cornelius from being killed by Urzur and fought the sorcerer, coming out victorious and obtained the power of Darkova. Unfortunately for Ingway, his cursing of Beldor allowed the wizard to stick around after his death as a Revenant. During the Armageddon, Ingway attempted to use the Darkova to destroy the Cauldron, but Beldor appeared, took control of his beastly form, and brought him to Ringford. Shortly before his battle, Beldor revealed the Wise Men had kept secret that they could control the Darkova and subsequently made him attack the forest. If the False End route is taken, Ingway will regain consciousness following his battle against the player and will either stab Beldor in revenge (Gwendolyn or Oswald) or to protect Mercedes from him strangling her. As a boss Velvet's Impostor Ingway is fought in Chapter 3 of The Pooka Prince where he's referred to as Velvet's Impostor. As he is pretending to be his sister, his attacks are fundamentally the same as when Velvet is fought by Gwendolyn in Chapter 2 of Valkyrie. He throws various potions in order to damage or inflict status effects on Cornelius and uses most of the moves found in Velvet's skillset. (This applies to both the battle in PS2 version and the battle in Leifthrasir.) The Darkova Coming soon! Concept Art, Sprites, and Screenshots odin_sphere_52.jpg|Ingway's page from the Japanese Leifthrasir artbook showing his character art by SHIGATAKE and various poses of his sprite Ingway HD.jpg|Ingway's HD sprite from Leifthrasir in its standard pose. Ingway blood sprite close up.png|Ingway's bloodied sprite following his first Darkova transformation Ingway opponent.jpg|Ingway about to face Urzur during Cornelius's Epilogue Ingway and the flower.png|The new endcard from Leifthrasir showing Ingway resting at the World Tree's roots Official Artwork and Merchandise Velvet and Ingway's Curse.jpg|Illustration from the original PS2 release showing Ingway and Velvet as children Mercedes Against Belial.jpg Vanillaware Countdown 8.png OSL Yuu Kikuchi.jpeg OSL CHANxCO.jpeg OSL Countdown toi8.jpeg Trivia * In the Japanese version, Ingway's voice is provided by Showtaro Morikubo. His English voice actor is Liam O'Brien. * It can be inferred from a comment in the artbook that Ingway's human form was modeled after the god Freyr, as Velvet is modeled after Freyja, Freyr's twin. ** His Japanese name, Yngwie, is derived from an older name for Freyr, further solidifying this possibility. * Some of Ingway's character design appears to have come from early concept art of Velvet, as seen to the right. * Promotional material for Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir often shows Ingway standing among the other monarchs of Erion, indicating that he's considered the ruler of Valentine and an equal to them despite the kingdom's destruction and that he's still referred to as a "prince" by the other characters and by himself. * Ingway appears in the artwork for both covers of Odin Sphere alongside the playable protagonists. Interestingly, while he appears in his human form on the cover for the PS2 release, he is shown in his frog form on the cover for Leifthrasir. ** A similar instance happened with Cornelius, although it was the other way around. * While Odin Sphere isn't known for having obscene amounts of gore, Ingway is the only character who visibly gets bloodstains on his body and clothes. This is always seen after his transformations into the Darkova. * Although Velvet at least gets to meet and interact with Gwendolyn, Ingway never refers to or acknowledges the existence of his half-sisters. Whether this is because he hates them or is indifferent to them entirely is never cited. * An interview with Kentaro Onishi (a programmer and employee at Vanillaware who directed Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir) revealed that there was an idea to give Ingway his own story chapter in the remake. This wasn't possible, however, as Ingway's story would have been difficult to angle from his point of view and his lack of a Psypher meant that his gameplay wouldn't match with the main system used by the other characters. * Ingway was the first major male character to appear in an official figurine. (He appears as part of Mercedes's Yamato and Alter figurines.) Category:Protagonists Category:Humans Category:Royalty Category:Valentinians Category:Bosses